


A Series of Drabbles

by kazbotinwonderland



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-02 08:26:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 21,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1054629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kazbotinwonderland/pseuds/kazbotinwonderland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of Skimmons drabbles. Prompts from (and first published on) tumblr. All chapters are stand alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Skye playing with Jem’s tie, and then pulling her in by said tie for a kiss.

Skye was still wondering how the air conditioning had faulted in only the lab and why, between them all, they hadn’t got it up and running again. Fitz was still running around as though it wasn’t ridiculously hot, but as Skye peered in, she noticed Simmons without her standard jumper and that adorable pink tie now sitting just against her shirt. The doors were open to get some air in and Skye really couldn’t help herself. “Fitz, I think Ward was looking for you. Has he been down here yet?” She asked, more innocently than it was intended.

“Why would Ward be looking for me?” He flicked a sideways glance to Simmons, but she was coming up blank and just gave him a look of what must have been ‘I have no idea’ in Fitzsimmons language. “And why would he not come straight here? It’s not like I’m very often found anywhere else. I mean really.” Fitz sighed, but Ward had rather grown on him since that mission. And the more time they spent together, the better his impressions of the agent got. “I’ll save him the trouble. Is he upstairs?” Looking back at Skye, she merely shrugged.

“He was a minute ago. He can’t be hard to find. Tall, brooding. Easily noticeable. Try the bar.” She smiled, and wondered at what point that bench had become known as the bar. With Fitz gone, Jemma seemed to click. “Ward was not looking for Fitz was he?” Taking her glasses off and titling her head at Skye, the hacker’s mischievous smile and shake of the head were enough for Simmons. “Skye, come on, that’s just mean. Sending him on a wild goose chase like that.” Skye felt a little bad, but it wasn’t like Ward was in the gym or anything, he was just trying to make himself look busy. And it bought Skye a few minutes alone with Jem, something she she should probably stop going out of her way to do.

“Fine, it was a little mean. But,” taking Jem’s tie between her fingers, the fabric soft because as though Jem would have anything that wasn’t, “it means I have approximately four minutes before he comes back wondering just who said that Ward was looking for him. And then he’ll realise why I sent him away and he’ll roll his eyes at me and you’ll giggle and I’ll simply repeat my actions only this time there’ll be an audience.” Skye took a small step closer to Jem, wondering how her perfume could still smell so sweet and perfect even after a whole day’s work. Gently tugging the tie (and consequently the beautiful biochemist) towards her, Skye caught a hand around Jem’s waist not a second before their lips met. Kissing the woman she adored softly, one hand still on the tie, Skye wondered why she didn’t do this more. Right, work environment. But right now, she could not bring herself even close to caring. She knew Jem wasn’t working on anything that would be hindered by being left for a couple of minutes. Breaking their kiss for just a moment, Skye flicked her eyes up to meet Jem’s and smiled. “You should consider not wearing those adorable jumpers more often.” Jem giggled but shook her head slightly. “Oh no. All that would lead to is you coming in and disturbing us working and-“

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Skye sounded faux-offended but her smile gave her away, as it always did with Jemma. Leaning in to kiss Jem again, the remnants of the smile still hinting on her lips.  
The footsteps behind them were enough for Skye to turn and look mildly apologetic. “If you just wanted to kiss her, why did you have to send me upstairs?” He didn’t sound upset more than he did annoyed but then, Skye knew she was playing dangerously close to pushing the limits. “Next time I won’t send you upstairs. Sorry Fitz.” Not too sorry though, because she turned back and kissed Jem again before turning on her heels and heading out of the lab.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're not dating, Jemma gets jealous of Ward and Skye and accidentally tell Skye she likes her she rambles then Skye kisses her.

From the day Skye had gotten there, that’s just how things had been. She and Ward, always flirting. It didn’t bother Jemma at first, but as she and Skye spent more time together, and Jemma realised there was more to their platonic friendship (at least, there was for her), it began to sting in ways she wished she could just forget.

It started out in the way these things always do. All the classic clichés and things you hear in movies. Which of course made Jemma Simmons cringe, because she was a scientist. She knew the neurological impulses and serotonin and every scientific name for everything that was actually happening and still, could not overcome how she felt. The way Skye would joke with Ward, the way she’d playfully fight with him or how they actually trained together. The way they always held eye contact for longer than anyone else, even her and Fitz. Skye was one of the only people who Ward ever really seemed to smile for. Jemma wasn’t entirely sure he was actually capable of doing such a thing, but apparently Skye had the ability to bring it out in him. Well, in everyone really. There was something about her. The way she smiled, the way she rambled and nobody else understood half of what she was talking about (for various reasons). Jemma couldn’t quite put her finger on it, probably because there were just too many things.

Skye, on the other hand, was always wondering what the deal was with Fitzsimmons. Because everyone seemed to just shrug. But the way they were so efficient, so in sync, Skye wondered if there was anything more there. She really hoped there wasn’t. Because the stunning biochemist clouded most of her thoughts and she didn’t know if she could even compete with Fitz. The engineer was rather amazing and he and Simmons managed to speak without really speaking half of the time, or finishing each other’s sentences. Skye wasn’t sure whether to be grateful that Jemma never noticed her looking or terrified in case she saw.  
—  
A rather boring day of training for Skye and Ward and what sounded like a delightful amount of experimenting for Fitz and Simmons, the four of them found themselves upstairs sitting at their little makeshift bar. They’d been sitting down for not even two minutes when Fitz looked like he remembered the apocalypse or something. “I’m just going to check on something in the lab, I’ll be back in a minute.” They all nodded and watched as he practically ran downstairs. Ward shakes his head and Jem notices him doing that thing where he hold Skye’s gaze and she actually wishes he would go and do something else so she can have Skye to herself, even just for a few minutes.

“I have a meeting with Coulson, so I will leave you two ladies to it. Just, remember to check on Fitz if he isn’t back soon.” Skye wasn’t sure if the concern was for Fitz, the plane or combination thereof but both she and Jemma nodded. Turning back to face Jemma, Skye noticed the solemn look on her face. “Jem, are you okay? You seem, well, I don’t know. Not okay, I guess.” Reaching out and putting a hand on the biochemists arm, Skye had never seen Jem look like that before.

“What, oh, yes, Skye I’m fine. It’s okay. I was just thinking about something I usually do best not to think about.” Not that I can help it so much of the time. “Sorry, you don’t need to worry, really. I know it’s not anything that can be changed. Though maybe it could, I don’t really know. Which is why I tend not to think about it because then I get all wrapped up and I’m never really certain and there are too many variables at play because another person is involved-”

“Jem, breathe.” Skye was rather enthralled at how she could ramble but it was her last sentence that finally caught up to her and had Skye forgetting to breathe. “Wait, another person. Fitz? Surely he could just read your mind? I thought you guys had special powers or something.” Skye only then noticed the pink creeping up Jemma’s cheeks. “Not Fitz.” Taking a deep breath, she wondered if maybe, just maybe, she could be the other person. Not trusting herself with words this time, Skye slowly pointed to herself. Hoping, praying, that it was. A small, nervous smile from the gorgeous woman next to her was enough to have Skye leaning forward to close the gap between them. Kissing Jemma had been almost all she wanted for weeks. As well as all the cheesy romance stuff, but that wasn’t something she was ready to admit just yet. Skye did still have some sort of reputation to uphold here. But her lips were soft, softer than Skye had imagined and she couldn’t help but wonder how long neither of them had noticed.

When they finally broke apart, Skye had a rather broad grin across her face, whilst Jem flushed pink and still had that nervous look about her. “I wish you’d said something sooner. Here I was thinking you were pining after Fitz and really, it looks like you were pining after me.” Skye loved that fact. It was only when she realised what had made her realise that she stopped. “You thought I was, whatever, with Ward, didn’t you?” Jemma nodded and wanted to explain but wasn’t even sure where to begin. “The way you two are. I suppose looking at it would be similar to the way Fitz and I are. Only we finish each other’s sentences and you two hold eye contact for a really long time.” There was a questioning tone to it, as though Jem simply couldn’t figure out why which saw a hint of laughter appear in Skye’s voice.

“It’s a challenge, most of the time. Who breaks first. Nothing more to it I’m afraid. In fact, I’ve rather had my eye on someone else.” A playful smile and Skye took Jem’s hand. “Who appears to have had her eye on me as well.” Not bothering with any more words, Skye leaned in and kissed Jemma again. There would be time to talk later, for now, they finally had exactly what they wanted.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post F.Z.Z.T. Skye keeps having nightmares about Jem throwing herself off the plane. Jem hears her thrashing about one night, and goes to see what’s wrong.

_Skye watched in horror of the footage streaming from the cargo hold. No. No! Fitz’s screams, the terror on his face when she falls. The inability to get the parachute done up. Skye is frozen, unable to move. Tears falling over her face, she couldn’t save her. The woman she’d never had the chance to say she loved. Stuck to the ground, a wave of nausea washing over her. Why couldn’t she run? Why couldn’t she grab a chute and jump after her? This was Jemma, and now it was too late._

Skye had never in her entire life, been more relieved than when she saw Jemma in the lounge. She had watched as they rescued Ward and Simmons, how angry Coulson was (internally) at having to deal with the Moroccan office. He handled in the manner he always does, but the rest of the team knew it would be best to steer clear for a while. Skye and Fitz had been babysat by May, likely to make sure they didn’t do anything stupid. In the end, things were okay. That is, until they weren’t. 

After one very restless night (there was no sleep), Skye knew she needed to talk to Jemma.

—-

A month later, things had been, well, pretty amazing. Skye was still reluctant to let Jem too close to the back of the cargo hold, but Jem was rather understanding. Skye had finished training for the day though Jem was in the middle of an experiment. And as much as Skye wanted to stay and kept her company, her eyes were forcing themselves shut and she was scared she was going to break something.

“Jem?” Skye yawned, glancing over at her girlfriend.

“Hmm?” Jem said, looking up from her microscope with the cute smile that melted Skye every time.

“I need to go to bed. Ward had me up training from 3am and that is just not my hour of the morning. I’ll see you in the morning, yeah?” Skye stood up and missed Jem glancing around the lab. Motioning with her hand, Skye headed over to Jem, her hand stretched out and their fingers entwined. Kissing her goodnight, both of them smiling as they pulled apart. “I won’t say anything about you breaking the rule. Promise.” Jem could only giggle and Skye squeezed her hand softly before heading upstairs and collapsing into bed, forgetting to even close her door.

When Jemma finished her experiment, packed everything away and had sterilised the lab (goodness knows Fitz would have kittens if he even knew what had been on the benches), she glanced up at the clock. One twenty-six. That was rather reasonable really. Jem smiled as she left her lab coat on the hook and made her way upstairs. Tiptoeing as to not wake anyone up, she changed and crawled into bed. Just as she was falling asleep, she heard,  _something._ Unsure of what, but knowing it wasn’t a mechanical noise, she almost brushed it off until she heard it again. Slowly walking past the other rooms, Jemma noticed only one open door.

“Skye.” She whispered automatically. Looking in, Jem bought her hand up to cover her mouth. The blankets and pillows were strewn across the very tiny room, Skye throwing her arms around, looking as though she’s reaching for something. Kicking to escape the blankets, but Jem knew it was more than that. When Skye starting mumbling under her breath, Jemma was officially scared.  _“No, no, Jem, no. Don’t! No! Jemma!”_ Skye’s cries were getting louder and tears welled in Jemma’s eyes.

“Skye?” She said, not too loudly, but hoping it was loud enough. Moving closer and reaching to move the blanket so Skye would be able to move, Jem waited for an answer.

Skye startled awake and Jem could see the confusion in her eyes for those few seconds. Realising that Jemma was right there, sitting on the edge of her bed, Skye sat up and hugged her tightly. Jem was there, and she was safe and alive.

“Skye, I’m so sorry.” Jem was holding her tighter than Skye thought possible, but having her there, tangibly there, was helping. Skye began to sob quietly, tucking her head against Jem’s neck. “Oh honey, it’s alright.” Jem was never really much of a comforter, having never really spent a great deal of time with anyone other than her parents or Fitz. But Skye, well, Skye was different.

“Stay with me?” Skye mumbled, hoping that even in the tiny space, Jem would stay.

“Of course. Let me get your pillows.” She reached down and collected one from the floor and the other from the opposite end of the bed and put them where they were meant to be. “And let’s fix the blankets too.” A small, reassuring smile that Skye could see given the illumination from the lounge electronics.

“Thank you.” Skye laid back down as Jem untangled the sheet and blanket and draped it over her girlfriend. Skye moved back against the wall to make as much room as she could for Jem. “I don’t know what I would have done without you. I don’t know what any of us would have done, actually.” Skye was beginning to calm down now, having Jem there made everything easier. “Sorry you found me like this.”

“Oh Skye, don’t be silly. Try and go to sleep. I’m right here and I promise I’m not going anywhere.” Draping an arm over Skye’s waist and kissing her forehead gently, Jem simply held her close, hoping she’d be okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Skye hugs Simmons she gets mad at her for jumping out of the plane and almost dying. And then ends in her sad rant ends up admitting she likes her!

“Oh, hello Skye.” Jem notices the tears welling in her friends eyes and would rather like to help but there really isn’t anything she could really do given that she really hopes that they’re tears of relief and or joy given that she is alive after jumping off the bus. Jemma barely has time to finish that thought before Skye is hugging her. Standing nervously for a moment, Jemma realises what is actually happening and hugs her back. Smiling as she clicks as to what is happening right now, Jem holds on tightly to her friend. By the time she has opened her eyes again, Ward has vanished in the way that Ward does so very well.

When Skye finally lets her go, her relief seems to be short lived as her eyebrows crease together and Jem recalls seeing the same expression on Coulson earlier. Oh no, this isn’t good, Jemma thinks.

“What in the hell were you thinking?! You would have died! Jemma, seriously? Why in the world would you think you should jump out of an aeroplane! Without a parachute?! Do you have any idea how scared we were? What we would do without you? Do you actually think Fitz would be able to function without you?”

Jem felt a little bad, but she’d jumped because she knew she was only a hazard to the rest of the people on board,  _her friends_. She nervously bit on the inside corner of her lip and hoped that Skye wouldn’t stay angry. Jem wasn’t sure she could deal with that.

“I mean, he’d try and he’d probably build something with your brain and have it play recordings of your voice or something. But it wouldn’t be able to finish his sentences and it wouldn’t be able to respond properly if I said I liked you and goodness knows it wouldn’t be able to imitate Ward as hilariously as you do. But that’s not the point, Jem, we could have lost you and I, I don’t know how I would go on without you.” Jem was still caught up picturing the robot-her Fitz would likely try and build so it took a few seconds for Skye’s next words to sink in. And it was only when she finished rambling did Skye realise what she’d said.

Hesitating for just a second, Skye needed to get out of there. What the hell had she just done? This was Jemma. Beautiful Jemma who was not exactly the best in social situations and here she is now stuck in the spot where she has just been told friend actually likes her more than that and Skye’s mind is racing. “I’m going to go now. I really am glad you’re okay.” She had barely taken two steps when Jem spoke.

“No, Skye. Wait.” Jem had her hands up, moving them nervously together. “Don’t go.” Skye turned back and played with the sleeves of her jumper. “I mean, if you meant what you said, then please don’t go.”

This time it was Skye’s turn to be stunned. Did that mean that Jemma liked her too? Or that she just wanted to know if Skye was joking? But why would someone joke about that? Especially about Jemma. The woman was nothing short of amazing, in every sense of the word.

“In that case, I’m not going anywhere. I meant what I said, even if I hadn’t exactly meant to say it.” Skye hoped she hadn’t ruined anything with Jem, because she didn’t want to think about not having her even as a friend.

“Well, you see, you are not the only one who hadn’t meant to say it. Only, I didn’t actually say it. But I am very glad you did.” Jem said shyly, looking up to see how cute Skye was as she fiddled with her sleeves.

Skye stopped and grinned, taking the two steps back to Jemma and hugging her again. Only this time, Jem hugged her back instantaneously.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simmons jumps out of the plane but it's Skye that saves her.

“What is that?” Skye asked as the alarms sounded in around the room.

“Someone’s lowering the cargo hold ramp.” May looked up, aware of the enormity of what she had just said. Ward paused, a moment’s hesitation to let it sink in. Skye couldn’t wait, this was Jemma. By the time Ward had turned, Skye was already on the stairs, grabbing the first parachute she could. Suddenly those skydiving lessons became the best thing she’d ever done. “FITZ!” Skye screamed, reaching out as she saw him holding the anti-serum. “The anti-serum worked! But she jumped.” The way Fitz was looking at her, Skye could barely take it. She was going to save Jemma. There was no other option. Taking a running leap off the open cargo hold, Skye didn’t even notice that Ward and Fitz were right behind her. Jumping into the clouds, Skye looked down on every possible angle until she saw Jem. Holding the anti-serum tightly and pulling her arms back by her sides, she plunged head first towards the woman she hadn’t yet had the chance to talk to about how she really felt. The few seconds of freefall that were normally Skye’s favourite part were now her worst nightmare. She could not screw this up. She had to save Jem.

 Her eyes never leaving the biochemist falling  _just_  below her, Skye was so close. The wind keeping her hair out of the way but making it difficult to see (saving the woman she loved trumped finding goggles). Steadying herself mid-air and reaching for Jem, Skye prayed this would work. As soon as she had a hold of the other woman, Skye wrapped herself around her and gave her the anti-serum as quickly as she could before dropping the device and clinging to Jemma. Pulling her chute, Skye had an unconscious but still breathing Jemma in her arms. Exhaling a very large sigh of relief, she realised that they were headed for the middle of an ocean. At this point, she knew all she could do was laugh. Coulson would be there for them shortly, heck, May probably already had a team headed out. At least, Skye really hoped she did.

Slipping the parachute off once they hit the water, Skye really hoped Jem would wake up soon. Sure, she was breathing, but Skye needed more reassurance than that. Treading water, Skye was holding on to Jem with everything that she was. She was going to be fine, she simply had to be. Skye was too stubborn to accept any other way. Not now, not after this. Fitz had the anti-serum. It was going to be okay.

Hearing engine sounds in the distance, Skye was very grateful that she knew her team as well as she did. May had obviously sent a boat the second she’d heard they’d jumped. She also knew Coulson was going to be pissed but it didn’t matter, she saved Jem. Hopefully. If she would just wake up, then everything would be okay. Looking up to see how far off the boat was, Skye heard a very loud gasp come from her friend. “Oh thank god, Jem!” Skye didn’t let go, given the poor woman was waking up in the middle of the ocean. “The team will be here in a few minutes, I’ve got you until then, just relax okay?” Skye had no idea how she was feeling, but after being contracting as Chitauri virus, jumping out of an aeroplane, being hit with an anti-serum and waking up in the middle of the ocean, she assumed it wasn’t all that crash hot. Jem mumbled something that sounded like an agreement and Skye leaned down and kissed the top of her head. She’d almost died and Skye had never told her just how important she was. Of course they were friends, but she was more than that to Skye. And if the crazy woman decided to jump out of another plane, she’d rather like her to know that. “Hey, um, it may or may not be the best time to say anything because I have no idea if you’re going to remember this or not, but, well, you should probably know that I, that I love you Jem. More than a friend. I mean, I love you as my friend, but, well, also more than that.” Skye gulped and wasn’t sure whether she actually wanted Jem to remember this conversation, given she had no idea how Jem was going to react to that information.

With the speedboat not far out now, Skye looked back down at Jemma, who was opening her eyes very slightly (and with what looked like great difficulty). “I love you too Skye.” Her voice was barely above a whisper and her eyes drifting shut again but there was the smallest smile on her lips. Skye held Jem close, not moving away from her an inch; not even when they were safe in the boat.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Simmons have to keep their relationship a secret but Skye can't keep herself in check or her hands to her self and they keep getting caught. I think it would be funny if May caught them first and then so on so forth!

Of course Fitz knew. There was a reason FitzSimmons worked so perfectly in sync and that was because they could read each other perfectly. So when Fitz realised just why Skye was always around so much and why Jemma wouldn’t stop smiling all the time, he just carried on. It didn’t change much really. Only that Skye was around more and Jem was happier. Neither of things he could begrudge. So long as nothing inappropriate was happening in the lab, then Fitz was happy for them. Except that Skye wasn’t exactly as good at being secretive as she was at hacking. In fact, she was terrible at it. The not saying anything part was okay, but actually keeping space between her and Jem. Nope. At keeping her hands off her girlfriend? Not a chance.

The first time it happened it was May who caught them. Jem was rather embarrassed and Skye really didn’t want Jem to get in trouble. “May. Umm.” Skye stopped and pursed her lips together, wondering what it was she was actually going to say and not finding anything that quite covered ‘sorry that you caught my girlfriend and I making out’. “Sorry.” May’s eyes spoke volumes and when she crossed her arms, Skye shuffled protectively in front of Jemma. “Simmons, Fitz was looking for you.” Jemma nodded and, letting go of Skye’s hand, she made her way out past May and headed up to the lab. “Skye.” May said warningly.   
“It’s not her fault May. It’s just really hard on this thing because there isn’t anywhere private really and trying to keep us a secret is hard enough as it is.” May rolled her eyes in the manner she was so scarily good at. “I know it’s not her fault. And find somewhere else that isn’t below the cockpit.” Skye nodded and May flicked her eyes to the door. Skye smiled gratefully and left quickly, the hint of a giggle in her throat.

Skye should not have been laughing quite so hard, but Jemma had a way to just make everything seem so much funnier. And her impressions of the rest of the team were definitely some of Skye’s favourites. Fitz and Ward had a meeting with Coulson so Skye had moved down to the lab so she could work near Jem. But after twenty minutes of working, they found themselves joking about and before long, Skye found she had a very gorgeous brunette on her lap and was very reluctant to do anything about it. Jem’s arms were wrapped around Skye’s neck and Skye’s around Jem’s waist, kissing as though it was the last time. Which, when they heard the sound of the doors open, became a possibility. They both turned to look and Jem gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. Skye laughed, unable to help it.   
“Jemma I adore you, but I think there needs to be a no kissing in the lab rule.” Fitz sighed, having hoped they would stop doing that in the lab.   
Ward, on the other hand, was simply standing there clearly trying to fit together pieces of something he had so very obviously missed. “Wait, you two? Why am I the only one who currently seems shocked?”  
Fitzsimmons shrugged and Skye simply looked smug. “Because you weren’t looking very hard?” A playful smile on her lips, an eye roll from Fitz and a slight giggle from Jem as Ward realised he really had not been paying attention.   
“How long?” He asked, honestly wondering how he’d missed this. Although, in hindsight realising it explained Jem’s long standing good mood. And Skye’s mischievous wit. Ahh.   
“Do you really want to know the answer?” Skye questioned, Jem just smiling at her.   
“Because we would tell you but then I suspect you may not like the answer.” Skye instinctively held her a little closer when she spoke, if only because she could.  
“Yes, fine, you two are cute and sappy and whatever, but no more kissing in the lab. This is a place of science and Skye, don’t.” Fitz held a finger up, warning her not to. For once, Skye obliged and nodded. “No more in the lab. Got it.” She agreed, knowing that only meant when they wouldn’t be caught.

Then the time finally came when they knew it was really over. Skye and Jem were waiting in the van after finishing the surveillance, just waiting for Coulson’s okay to pack everything up and head back. Ten minutes had passed, then fifteen and not only was it getting colder, but it was dark. They had been pretty good recently at not getting caught, which had everything to do with Jemma really. Skye just wanted to be with her all the time, it was only because she knew Jem didn’t want to get caught again did she back off a little bit. But now, with no answer from Coulson in nearly twenty minutes and Jem starting to shiver, Skye moved across and draped her jacket over her girlfriend, wrapping her arm around the biochemist and pulling her in close. “Better?” She asked softly and Jem smiled, resting her head on Skye’s shoulder. “Yes, thank you Skye.”   
“Always.” Skye smiled brightly, loving just how adorable Jemma looked. How the cold had made her cheeks and nose just that touch more pink. “You look gorgeous, you know that?” Never had Skye been able to resist telling her such things.   
“Skye, don’t be ridiculous. My hair is a mess from the running and my nose is red from the cold and yet you seem to look completely together and simply beautiful and I-” Skye had started to shake her head before cutting her lovely girlfriend off completely by kissing her. She wanted to tell her to shut up, that she was perfect, but hadn’t even broken their kiss when the van door flew open. Jem jumped, Skye groaned and there was Coulson, looking calmly nonchalant about everything. Skye made a note to ask him how he did that so well. “And it seems I am the last one to find you two. To add to Fitz’s rule, not just not in the lab, not anywhere where you are meant to be working.” He raised his eyebrows, thinking that Skye would possibly argue (it had crossed her mind), and closed the door behind him. Turning back to her favourite genius, Skye grinned. “Well, I guess that secret is out.” Jemma rolled her eyes but grinned at Skye, leaning in to kiss her cheek softly. It was only because of protocol it was a secret in the first place, and as it turned out, it was sort of the worst kept secret ever.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma’s reaction to Skye’s betrayal and ‘boyfriend’

(Set immediately post-Girl in the Flower Dress)

After making it to Hong Kong and was Skye released and cleared, there were still things that didn’t seem quite right. “Jemma?” Fitz asked, looking up at his partner. “Do you really think Skye and Miles have been through more together than what we’ve all been through?” Fitz looked hurt and Jem wished she could make it go away. It wasn’t like Skye did this to hurt them, she was their friend and for many reasons, Jemma still believed that. 

“I don’t know, Fitz. I mean, it might not have been as strange or deathly as what we all went through but you heard what she said in his apartment. They met when Skye was really messed up. We don’t know what she was like back then. But I mean, she was living in her van in an alley way when they bought her in. Who knows what happened before that. She probably didn’t tell us about him because he either wasn’t as important as you think he is to her or because it hadn’t really come up. I mean, we haven’t known each other all that long really and I’m not entirely certain but I think randomly announcing that ‘my secret boyfriend is one of the most well-known hackers in the world’ is generally not considered appropriate.” Jem may not have the most adept social skills, but that much she knew. “Of course I wish she had told us, we could have helped her, but I don’t think that she did it intentionally or meant to hurt anyone. Come on this is Skye we’re talking about. She might be loud and a little outside the box but she’s our friend who is a nice person who doesn’t like hurting people. My guess is that she did all of this to try and protect everyone. Us, Miles, herself. It may not have been the most well devised plan, but I think she had good intentions.” Skye always had good intentions, even if her methods were a little odd. “You don’t really think she would do anything to hurt us? Do you?” She asked Fitz quietly, hoping his answer matched her own thoughts.

Fitz sighed and after a moment’s thought, shook his head. “No, I don’t. But why didn’t she tell us about him? She’s our friend. Why would she keep that a secret?” Fitz was still trying to figure it out but he liked that Jem seemed so sure of Skye. If she could believe in the hacker that much, then he figured he could too. It was Jemma, after all, and she was very much never wrong. 

“Fitz.” Jemma said shyly, looking back up at the engineer. “I have something I need to tell you and it isn’t something that anyone else knows, or should know. And I know where you’re coming from with not knowing about Miles, because believe me, I would have saved myself a lot of pain if I had known that.” Because maybe, possibly, if she’d known about Miles, she wouldn’t have fallen quite so hard for the hacker. But it was too late by that point and even if she could focus on her work and not show just how much she was hurting, she knew she could never keep it from Fitz. “I may have developed some rather unexplainable feelings for someone that likely doesn’t even realise I would be even remotely interested in her and yet, I can’t help it and they won’t go away.” Looking up apprehensively at her best friend, she wondered if maybe he already knew. It was Fitz after all and despite no actual scientific proof, he did practically live in her head. 

“You mean Skye?” He asked, clarifying that he was not completely on the wrong track here. This wasn’t exactly their area of expertise. Sure Jemma could explain the scientific process of how it all worked in the brain, but the actual social, relationship side of things, well, not so much. “Okay, well.” Fitz took a deep breath and looked as though he was going to say something, instead he simply exhaled. “Why don’t you tell her? I mean, she clearly wasn’t in love with him or anything and you know, she smiles whenever you’re nearby. Maybe she likes you too but did not want to say anything?” Jem’s cheeks flushed a soft pink but she shook her head.

“I don’t think she does. I don’t even think she knows. Why would she notice me when-”

The fact that both Fitz and Jemma had been oblivious to the open doors of the lab as well as Skye’s presence on the stairs bode well for the hacker. She sat, knees tucked against her chest, wishing that all the conflicting emotions would go away. Miles had been great, when they were actually together. But since she left, Skye realised she wasn’t in love with him. It didn’t help that she realised she was in fact, in love with the biochemist whom she thought she had exactly zero chance with.

“I noticed you from the first time we spoke Jem.” 

Fitz and Jemma practically snapped their necks looking to see where Skye’s voice had come from. Skye looked over timidly and smiled at Jemma. “I didn’t tell you about Miles because I knew that it was over from the minute I left. If I told you, then it was still going and you would have more reasons not to accept me. And I really like it here. A lot. And you were all so nice and so welcoming. Well, not so much Ward, but that’s different.” Skye had stood up and slowly made her way down the stairs, hovering in the entrance to the lab. “I’ve had feelings for someone else for ages but never thought they’d be reciprocated. So when I saw Miles, I hoped that maybe if those old feelings came back, the ones I knew how to deal with, then the new ones would be easier to handle. Turns out they didn’t and all I did was screw up the chance I apparently had. I’m really sorry Jem.” 

Fitz’s jaw was practically on the bench and Jem’s big brown eyes were slightly wider than normal. “You mean me?” Was all Jem could manage to stammer out as she twisted her fingers together. Skye nodded and hoped they could at least still be friends. She wished she hadn’t screwed it up, but then, she didn’t ever think that the amazing Jemma Simmons would share her feelings.   
“I’m really sorry I hurt you Jem. Truly sorry. Do you think we can still be friends?” Skye asked, hoping she hadn’t messed everything up too badly.

“You only want to be friends?” Jem sounded hurt and for the first time in Skye, it clicked that just maybe Jem was more perfect than even Skye thought.  
“No, I want you. All to myself. Have for weeks. Maybe longer, if we’re honest. But, I didn’t think you’d still want me.”  
“Skye, for someone so intelligent, you can be really be quite silly sometimes.” Jem laughed as Skye copied and moved to join her, walking over toward the bench where the two were sitting. Fitz seemingly in shock, unsure whether to move or not.  
“So it seems. In that case, I would really like to kiss you now.” Skye wasn’t just going to scare the poor woman, she knew how Jem was with people. But as soon as she smiled and nodded, Skye leaned forward and kissed the woman she had wanted to for weeks. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma nervously asks Skye out.

It started seemingly normal enough. After Miles had left and Skye had apologised, Jemma was the only one who really forgave her right away, which meant that they were spending more and more time together, something Skye for one was very happy about. She had admired Jemma Simmons from the day she got there. The genius scientist who could do everything had her rather intrigued. Skye hadn’t seen her fail at anything yet and firmly believed the woman was capable of practically anything. So whilst Fitz may not have been overly impressed by the situation (he was still dealing with his own feelings regarding the situation that had unfolded), Jemma seemed happy to have Skye around.

So as the weeks went on and the rest of the team had forgiven her, Skye still found herself spending most of her time with Jemma. Skye relocated to the lab whenever she could and the rest of the time she and the biochemist had become almost inseparable. Fitz had grown accustomed to Skye being around a lot and had even begun finishing some of her sentences too. Skye thought that was both hilarious and very sweet. If he was doing that, then they were okay. She’d apologised, explained everything and had been helping him in the lab hoping he’d forgive her quickly. Seems it had worked because Fitz acted like he had before, and Skye was really relieved at the normalcy they’d regained.

Another week passed and Fitz noticed that Skye was still around, well, always. It didn’t bother him; in fact, she’d gotten to be quite useful. But he simply could not understand how Simmons was dealing with having her space so closely invaded. The two of them, that was different. But even when their professors had gotten too close she’d move away. Jemma liked her space and Skye seemed to always be in it. He wondered if maybe Jemma had just gotten used to having Skye there, or if, just maybe, there was something more there. He decided to leave it, things would work themselves out. And in the meantime, he had work to do.

Jemma knew that Fitz had noticed. He could read her like an equation and it was not as though she was doing anything to dissuade Skye. Not really. She possibly should have. Her feelings for the ridiculously beautiful hacker were getting rather difficult to ignore these days. Logically, she knew it was a chemical imbalance, but the butterflies that took up residence in her stomach every time Skye smiled at her were impossible to deny. She began to wonder if it was in any way reciprocated, if Skye felt even remotely the same as she did. They were together always and when they weren’t, it was almost as though something was missing. Deciding that she was only going to drive herself mad with this thought process (in conjunction with every possible pro/con list she could think of), Jemma knew she had to do something. As to what, well, she had no idea. Deciding to go upstairs and come up with a plan, Jem hung up her lab coat and bid farewell to Fitz for the night.

She had barely made it to the top of the stairs as Skye stepped out of the conference room and almost ran into her. “Hey, I was just coming to find you.” Skye said brightly before pausing and wondering why Jem looked as nervous as she did. The scientist, whose cheeks had flushed pink was standing completely still and Skye was starting to worry. “Jem? You alr-”  
“Skye, would you like to go out with me sometime? I mean, not on the bus as there isn’t really anywhere to go but when we’re down next, with time, would you? With me?” She had started rambling a little and she had no idea where that had come from but as she looked back up at Skye, the hacker had the softest look on her face. Jem visibly relaxed, knowing Skye well enough to know that look meant that there was nodding to follow. And within a second, she was proved right. The second person she was ever able to read like that. Stepping forward into Skye’s arms and burying her head in Skye’s neck, Jem exhaled in relief.

“I’d love to Jem. But, you have let me take you out up here. Somehow. Because, well, it could be a while.” Goodness knows how long it would be and Skye wasn’t really the waiting type. Especially not when it was Jem she was talking about. Perfect Jemma, who had actually just asked her out. In person. Skye could barely believe it but it made her love her all the more. She’d done something so far out of her comfort zone, in pure  _hope_ (because Skye knew that social and romantic cues were not Jem’s strong suit). Skye hugged Jem even tighter and the smile that had formed on her lips wouldn’t leave for the next week (at least).


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Instead of Ward, Jemma grabs the staff and is infected.

“Jemma, no!” Skye called out, watching in a trance as Jem picked up the beaker sitting next to the staff, her sleeve not covering the small stretch of skin that was exposed when she reached across the table. “Don’t touch the -!” It was too late by that point, her wrist having made contact with the staff. Now it was glowing orange and the energy transferring through the scientist. Skye winced, knowing enough to know this was really not good. “Fitz! Coulson!” Calling out to the two people who may have some hope of fixing this, Skye really hoped there was some magical cure for this. Watching as Jem’s eyes closed and she groaned in pain, Skye ran to stand beside her, catching the scientist as she collapsed to the floor. “Woah, Jem, Jem, can you hear me? Jem, wake up. COULSON!” Skye could only watch as Jemma’s eyelids fluttered rapidly, the scientist writhing in her arms.

Skye was still holding her when the rest of the team burst through the doors of the lab. Ward kneeled carefully down beside the two women and gently put his arms underneath Jem, carrying her to, well, he was waiting for Coulson to say.

“No, she needs to stay here.” Everyone else had been too focused on helping Jem that they’d completely missed Fitz doing precisely that. “Please, just put her gently on one of the tables. I need to get these electrodes on her so we can understand what is going on.” Ward bought her over and Skye quickly grabbed one of the spare lab coats, folding it to place under her head.

“She was reaching and her wrist landed on the staff but her sleeve had ridden up and she didn’t mean it and please tell me you can fix it?” If everything they’d said was true, Skye didn’t want Jemma to go through that. The fierce anger, the pain. Neither were things that the biochemist deserved.   
“Her heart rate is extremely elevated and her core temperature is rising and there is a spike adrenocorticotropic levels.” Fitz was tapping away at the screen, torn between the science and his best friend. And as quickly as that, Jemma sat upright, breathing heavily. The dazed look, the confusion and the fear in her eyes enough for everyone besides Skye and Fitz to take a step back. “Jem, you’re going to be okay. We’ll fix this.” Skye had no idea if that was true or not, but she desperately hoped it would be. Fitz was still tapping and Jem glowered.

“Oh yes, I am sure that you will be able to fix it Skye. With your extensive scientific knowledge and thorough understanding of Asgardian history.” Skye stepped back, visibly shocked by the attack. This was Jemma, her Jemma. Only that it wasn’t any more. The body was the same but the anger that had taken over meant this wasn’t her Jem.

“And Fitz. Your placement of these electrodes is wrong and what exactly did you think? That I’d just come and fix things for you? I can’t spend my life correcting your mistakes.” Skye watched as Fitz closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She knew he was thinking the same thing she was. It’s the staff. She doesn’t mean any of it. It still hurt, but they knew it wasn’t really Jemma talking. Not their Jemma. Technically it was still her, but with far more rage than she should have ever seen. They had to fix this, it was Jemma. Their sweet, loving Jem, the one they already wanted back.

“Get that idiot professor down here and make him fix it. I want my girlfriend back and I want her the way she was. So help me, I will tear Asgard apart and if he thinks for a second I’m joking then he has no idea. Hell hath no fury was coined for a reason.”

“Simmer down Skye.” Ward couldn’t tell if she was serious, the look in her eyes was daring and he for one didn’t really want to find out whether she was joking. May rolled her eyes but Coulson nodded to her. If there was a way to fix this, Jemma needed it. And for that, they needed Randolph.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tis the season. Let's have some holiday Skimmons! Snow, and cocoa and cuddling fluff.

When Skye first saw Fitz wearing a knitted Christmas jumper, it took everything she was not to laugh. It had snowflakes and a reindeer and Skye questioned how he’d even gotten it. It looked new, but she had no idea why. Was it? Fitz did take good care of things after all. It was only when she saw Jem did she realise. This was obviously a thing, because her girlfriend was wearing one too. It was pale blue, with the same snowflakes that were on Fitz’s, but with a snowman rather than a reindeer. “Jem?” Skye questioned, wondering how someone could look so adorable whilst wearing a sweater like that. “Where? How do you? With… Never mind.” Skye shook her head with a laugh and held out her hand to Jem. “Okay, so you and Fitz wear Christmas sweaters. Do you get new ones every year or are these old ones you simply take really excellent care of?” Jem giggled, the noise that made Skye’s heart skip a beat.   
“Oh, we get new ones. And this year,” Jem reached behind her pillow and pulled out a bundle, “you get one too!” Handing the package to Skye, Jem was beaming. The fact that Skye was special enough to get to be in on a FitzSimmons thing was something that meant more to her than anything Jem was handing to her. Because acceptance like that, into their family, was more than Skye could have ever asked for. "Thank you." Leaning in to kiss her girlfriend gently, Skye could not have been happier. 

“I made something for you.” Skye grinned, it wasn’t Jem’s actual present but it was something that Skye hoped would at least make her smile. “Meet me in my room in ten?” Jem looked at her curiously, but with that smile Skye had grown to love so much. Jemma nodded and handed Skye her jumper. “Thank you.” And by now, Skye knew that Jem understood that she was thanking her for more than just a sweater. “See you in a minute.” Skye winked at her and headed to her room to leave her present on her bed. Making her way to the kitchen to make two very big mugs of hot cocoa, Skye grabbed the entire bag of mini-marshmallows. Tucking them under her arm and grabbing the two mugs, Skye headed back to her room. Turning on the screen embedded in the wall, Skye made some last minute adjustments to the digitally constructed tree. She’d programmed it just for Jem, knowing how much she loved Christmas. They couldn’t really have a tree on the bus (for a plethora of OH&S reasons) but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try and give Jem something close. Skye knew it wasn’t really close, but what did they always say about it being the thought that counted? Smiling as it came together, the 3D tree lighting up and glowing, the presents sitting beneath it, snow glistening on top of it. She’d had to hide the real presents carefully, not wanting anyone to find them before Christmas morning.

Slipping her newest sweater on, Skye was rather impressed at just how soft it was. Smiling to herself, Skye really couldn’t believe how lucky she was. First the team who were now her closest friends, but then Jem (and in turn, Fitz), who accepted her like family. Something she’d never had. It wasn’t a holiday she’d ever looked forward to before but found that this year, everything was perfect. Hearing something behind her, Skye turned around to see her wonderful girlfriend standing behind her. “Alright, close your eyes.” Jemma obliged and Skye lead her to sit down on the bed. Turning the lights off and sliding the door over, Skye bought up the digital tree. “I know how much you wanted a proper Christmas and I’m really sorry we couldn’t get a real one, so instead, I made you one. Open your eyes.” Watching as the scientist was overcome with emotion, Skye loved that she was the one that could do that.   
“You did this for me? Skye, it’s beautiful. Thank you.” Skye smiled and flicked the lamp on, picking up the mugs of cocoa and handing one to Jemma. “Then I was thinking that maybe you could stay and we could eat these mini-marshmallows and watch whichever remotely Christmas-themed movies you like. I have, well, pretty much all of them.” Snuggling up on the bed, draping the blanket over their laps, Skye pulled up the titles of films next to the tree and watched surreptitiously as Jem read over them. “Skye, why do you have so many Christmas films?” Jemma asked, turning to face her girlfriend.   
“Because I wanted you to have options. I mean, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Nightmare before Christmas are classics, simply not in the same way as Miracle on 34th Street or Meet Me in St. Louis are. Then you have your Home Alone films, well the first two. But then Elf, well, that was really adorable.” Skye stopped and laughed as she realised Jemma was staring at her. “The point is that you should be able to watch anything you want and as such, I have all the options.” Resting her head down on Jem’s shoulder, Skye could never have wished for a better Christmas present than her. “So, your call.” Jem laughed and took the remote from Skye. Clicking on How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Jem rested her head on top of Skye’s and took a handful of marshmallows.

“Merry Christmas Skye.” The scientist whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of the hacktivist’s head.  
“Merry Christmas Jem.” Reaching over with her far arm, Skye held Jem in close, simply because she could. A very merry Christmas indeed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simmons takes Skye to meet her parents. I can imagine Simmons parents loving Skye and make her feel like part of the family but Skye is nervous for obvious reasons. It could be festive too if you like :)

Their first Christmas had been spent on the Bus. Fitz and Simmons made video calls to their families and Skye was still getting over just how much the two of them had become her family. Jem, her perfect Jemma, had given her more than Skye could have ever asked for. Fitz had become the brother she’d never had and over that year, things had rather fallen into place. So when nothing went wrong the entire week before Christmas and Coulson sent them home, Skye wasn’t sure what exactly she was going to do. She didn’t want to be without Jemma for however long (actually, at all). They hadn’t really been apart since they got together nearly 18 months earlier. So when Jem knocked on her door as she was piling things into her bag, Skye looked rather melancholic. At this point, she wasn’t even sure where she was going to go. “Hey.” She smiled over her shoulder, even with everything plaguing her thoughts, her girlfriend could always bring a smile to her face. “You okay Jem?” Skye asked, knowing the look in her scientist’s eye.

“Come home with me.” Jem blurted out. Skye stopped and turned, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend. “I mean, I would very much like it if you would come home with me for Christmas.”  
“I thought you were going to stay with your parents?” Skye asked, stepping forward to rest her hands on Jem’s hips.   
“Oh yes, I am. But, I think you should come too. They’ve been wanting to meet you for a really long time and to be perfectly honest, I don’t want to spend Christmas without you Skye.”  
Jem looped her arms around Skye’s neck, savouring the smile she would never tire of seeing.  
“You want me to meet your parents? Really?” Skye asked cheekily. She knew it had taken Jem a lot to ask her, and Skye would never turn down anything Jem asked her to do. Family however, well, family wasn’t something she had a lot of experience with. Their team was one thing, but her girlfriend and her parents, that was something she wasn’t entirely sure how to handle. But she’d figure it out.  
“Of course I will.” Skye pulled Jem into her and hugged her tightly. “Besides, we haven’t been apart for that long and I don’t know how I’d go without you for days on end.” Which was something Skye had never had a problem with before her, but now, hated being apart. “So, what can I get for them?” She had no idea where to even start, and hoped Jem would guide her through this.

Close to midnight and with Jem asleep against her, Skye couldn’t stop the thoughts racing though her mind. _What if Jem’s parents didn’t like her? What if they did? Would they judge her? She was so different to Jemma. What if they didn’t approve of her? Would it matter to Jem? Skye knew it would matter to her. She was so sweet, raised well, Skye knew that much. Maybe even if they liked her, would they accept her? Would they pretend? Was she simply going to find herself alone again?_

“Skye?” Jem whispered, her voice breaking Skye’s stream of thought.   
“Hmm. Go back to sleep darling.” Skye smiled a little, bringing a hand up to sweep Jem’s hair off her face.   
“What’s wrong?” Jem knew it must have something to do with her parents, but she was certain they were going to love Skye. They’d been wanting to meet her for so long, and even if her sense of humour was a bit different, Jem knew they’d all get along well.

“Jem, what if they don’t like me?”  
“Skye, they’re going to love you. I love you and they know that. They know you are absolutely brilliant and they still tell me how very sweet it was that you programmed a tree for me last year. They’ll love you because I do. Because you are sweet and funny, even if they may not understand some of your jokes. Please try not to worry, it’s going to be wonderful.” Skye couldn’t help but worry, not when family was the one thing that had always been ripped from under her. Alone may have been all she knew, but now, she couldn’t lose Jemma.

—-

Walking up the house the next day, Skye was still a little nervous, but Jem had made her feel a lot better about it on the way here. The perfect scientist was always able to make her feel better and Skye was particularly grateful about that today. Jem pulled out an impression of Ward which had Skye giggling and as she extended her hand, Skye took it with a bright smile. Jem knocked on the door with her free hand and waited to the familiar sound of it being unlocked. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the tall door opened, a dark haired man standing before them.   
“Hello dad.” Jem said excitedly, not having been home in a few months. “Dad, this is Skye. Skye, this is my dad, David.” Skye smiled and reached out to shake his hand. “Pleasure to meet you sir.” David smiled and stood back to let them in, grabbing Jem to hug her tight as she walked in. “It’s great to have you here Skye, we’ve been told lots of good things about you.” He was beaming, clearly delighted to have his daughter home for Christmas.

  
“Jemma darling!” Skye looked up, a woman who looked quite like Jem was standing on the bottom step of the staircase with a broad smile on across her face.  
“I am so glad you’re home, we’ve missed you so much. And Skye, it is wonderful to meet you. Thank you for coming, we’ve heard so many delightful things about you. Jemma says you are good with computers. Is that how you came to work with her and Leo?” Jemma’s name always sounded so proper when her mum said it, the same way she always called Fitz Leo. “Skye, this is my mum, Elizabeth.”  
“Very nice to meet you Mrs. Simmons.”

  
“Please, Skye, call me Elizabeth.” Skye had already been sternly warned by Jem not to shorten that to anything. She nodded with a smile and small laugh. “Sure. And yes, I’m pretty good with computers. I am very lucky to be able to work with Jemma and Fitz; they’re completely brilliant.” Skye grinned at her bio-chemist before Jem interjected.  
“You’re better than pretty good.” Jem knew Skye was just being modest, probably for her parents’ sake. Skye was not usually shy about her abilities. “She’s incredible. She was able to. Actually, I’m sorry, we’re not technically allowed to say.” Jem felt a little bad about that, but it was the way things were. However, hearing that praise from Jem meant more to Skye than if anyone else were to say it.  
“Alright you two go and unpack, dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes.” David said, unable to stop smiling now that Jemma was home. He wrapped his arm around his wife and they headed into the lounge room as Skye and Jem made their way upstairs.

 

\---

  
They unpacked rather quickly and got caught up in their own conversation that it took a text from Fitz for Jemma to realise the time. “Oh, time for dinner.” Skye was her normal self, even feeling comfortable here. Her girlfriend’s parents were lovely, they weren’t going to tell Jemma to break up with her. Or at least, she really hoped. She may not have gotten into SHIELD the same way Jem and Fitz or Ward had, but she was there and she was damn good. Following Jem downstairs, it was a snippet of conversation that made her heart stop.

_“It’s just not a good fit Elizabeth.”_  
“Yes, I can see that.”  
“Well, what can we do about it?”

 It felt as though her heart had dropped completely through her stomach, Skye froze. Forgetting to breathe, tears prickling at the sides of her eyes, she couldn’t move. Everything she’d feared, to lose the person she loved the most, she did not know how she could go on without Jem. They’d grown so intertwined. Jem was the person she told everything to, went to with every problem and every triumph she had. She was her everything. And just like everything she’d ever wanted, Skye could feel it all slipping away from under her.

 

“Skye? Skye honey, what’s wrong?” Jem had turned around when she’d stopped hearing the second set of footsteps behind her. Jem’s voice, her beautiful accent, Skye remembered to breathe, even if it was only to sob. “Not a good fit. Do you know how many times I’ve heard that? What follows is me, by myself again. I don’t, I don’t know how to be without you any more Jem.” Her voice barely even a whisper, her entirely personality, wit, sass; everything gone. Reverting back to the emotional state of her nine year old self; but, for the first time ever, having someone wrap their arms around her and promise it was going to be okay.

“Skye, listen to me. I love you. I am not going anywhere. They will love you. They already like you. I don’t think mum has ever complimented anyone like that and she has not been genuinely been pleased to meet anyone in quite some time. Whatever isn’t a good fit, I’m certain they are not talking about us. I promise. You and I, we’re perfect Skye.”

The tears fell silently over Skye’s cheeks and Jem softly wiped them away with her thumb. “Come on, let’s have dinner and I’ll show you.” Skye nodded, wiping her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater.

 

Walking into the lounge room, Jem titled her head in a confused manner. “Why on Earth have you moved the table? It really doesn’t work here.” Instead of leaving the rectangular shaped table where it had always been, her parents had rotated it, leaving no room at either end.

“I was just telling you mum that it was a terrible fit. After dinner we’ll move it back.” Glancing over his shoulder, he smiled at Jem before catching sight of Skye.

“Skye, are you okay?” David asked, turning around to face the two girls.

Skye nodded, a small smile showing her relief. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you again for having me here.”  
“It’s a pleasure to have you here. Jemma talks about you all the time, it’s great to be able to meet you. I know that getting time away can be hard so we’re both extremely glad that you chose to spend it with us.” David was smiling, a warm smile that Skye could see was genuine. Jem smiled and took Skye’s hand, the warmth telling Skye all she needed to know. Which always boiled down to the simplest of things really. Jem was there, they were together and everything was going to be okay. A small kiss pressed to her cheek before she was being dragged to the table. “Mum’s roast potatoes are the best you’ll ever have, I swear.” Jem was grinning as she led Skye to their seats. They were quickly joined by Elizabeth and David and it wasn’t long until they were recounting tales over what were undoubtedly the best roast potatoes Skye had ever had. The sound of laughter filled the room and Jem blushed slightly as Skye was hearing all the stories of her childhood. Linking their fingers together under the table, Skye tapped her thumb against Jem’s finger in Morse code, not wanting to interrupt the conversation.

_Thank you._

A few seconds after she’d finished, a series of unexpected taps to her own hand had Skye staring lovingly at her girlfriend.

_Always._


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma getting hurt by and a little jealous of Ward post 1x08. Skye sets her straight. Fitzsimmons BrOTP and Skyeward BrOTP

“Yo, Jem.” Skye called out cheerily, having missed the adorable scientist since she saw her, well, yesterday. “Where’d you get to last night? I was waiting at the bar and you never showed.” Jem sighed a little and gave Skye a small smile. “I came in and you and Ward seemed quite deep in conversation and you were really close and I didn’t want to interrupt so I went upstairs and watched a film with Fitz.” Jem still looked upset about something, but she sat down beside Skye at the table anyway. 

“Why didn’t you text me? I was hoping we could go out.” This time it was Skye’s turn to sound upset. She’d been really looking forward to her night with Jem. It wasn’t often they actually had a night off to go out and she’d been excited since they left the church.   
“Out with me? Why? I thought you’d have gone out with Ward.” Jem looked almost confused and after the comment about Ward, Skye did too.

“For one, Ward was not really in a state to go out. Secondly, why would I want to go out with him when I could be going out with you?” Skye asked, beginning to wonder if there was something more behind this for Jem than just not wanting to interrupt a conversation between two people; both of whom she was friends with.

“You do know that there is nothing going on between me and Ward, right?” To hell with beating around the bush, if Jem felt for Skye the same way Skye felt for her, then she wanted to find out. “I mean, he’s my SO and a good friend. More like a brother really. Or, I think that’s what people would call it. It’s not like I really know what having a sibling is like.” Skye was watching Jem as she rambled on, finding herself extremely pleased with the spark that made Jem’s eyes at her confession. “He’s great, don’t get me wrong, but not really my type.” He might have been, if he weren’t so, for lack of a better term, Ward. Besides, it was Jemma she’d found herself head over heels for. The brilliant bio-chemist who was so smart and beautiful and Skye really couldn’t help it. She even had the most gorgeous accent. What hope did Skye have? “Besides, there was a reason I was hoping you and I could go out.” Smiling across at Jem, Skye realised she really hadn’t put two and two together yet.

“Are you sure there’s not? It seems as though there could be something there.” Jem sounded sad and Skye wanted to make it stop. The way she tried to hide it but just couldn’t quite manage made Skye want to lean over and kiss her.

“Jemma, I promise you there is no more going on between Ward and I than there is between you and Fitz. So, unless you have something to tell me?” She paused, really hoping Jem wasn’t about to admit to some longstanding relationship no one knew about. When Jem laughed and shook her head, Skye grinned. “Good. Because I was rather hoping that you would consider letting me take you out. Like, on an actual date. Because you have been like all I can think about for longer than I should probably tell you. What do you think? Would you maybe want to go out with me?”

Jemma was stunned. The feelings she’d secretly held for Skye were suddenly not so secretly being returned. That had never happened to her before and Jem couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, I would love to. When where you thinking?” She asked, with a new bravado she hadn’t heard in herself before.

“Now.” Skye said brightly. “We’re in Spain, which, is pretty amazing for a first date I think.”

“Yes, you are completely correct. Let me just tell Fitz so he doesn’t think I’ve just left him here alone. Goodness knows he’d freak out if I disappeared. Once, at university, I’d simply gone to get a jacket and he completely freaked out. It was very sweet.”

“He’s protective of you. Should I be expecting the ‘you break her heart and I’ll kill you’ speech? Because I promise I will not hurt you and I will happily tell him that.” Skye wondered if maybe she was jumping the gun a bit here but she didn’t care. Taking out her phone, Skye needed to send two quick messages.

**[text: Ward] Taking Jem out on a date. Be back sometime later. Promise not to cause too much havoc. –S**

It was always fun bantering with him. But Fitz was the important one here. FitzSimmons were called that for a reason.

**[text: Fitz] It took me long enough but I’m finally taking Jemma out. Yes, out as in on a date. I promise never to hurt her and if I do, I will inflict more damage on myself than you could even think to. –S**

Skye figured it would suffice for now until she could see him later. But she wasn’t going to waste the brief time amount of time they would have here on a conversation she could have back on the Bus. “So, is there anything you’d like to see or shall we just wing it and explore?” Skye asked, holding out her hand for Jemma to take. As she did, their fingers interlocking, Jem answered. “I think maybe just exploring would be nice.”

“Perfect.” Skye squeezed her hand a little, barely able to believe this was actually happening.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do you think you could rewrite when Simmons is trapped in the lab in F.Z.Z.T and instead of Fitz rushing in, Skye does. (Thus you see Sky's reaction to Simmons jumping rather than Fitz)

May had put her hand on Skye’s shoulder, beginning to lead her upstairs. The tears welled in the hacker’s eyes, the thought of losing Jem to some Chitaurian disease too much for her. There had to be a way to fix this. Turning back to face the lab, Skye knew she couldn’t leave.

“You have to fix this Jem.”  
“I don’t know how Skye. The anti-bodies from the three firefighters aren’t strong enough to fight this virus. It’s born from alien DNA. There’s no one to create an anti-serum from because no one’s actually survived this. Except.”

Jemma glanced back up at Skye, both of their eyes wide as they realised.

“The Chitauri.”

Simultaneously, they knew. Skye knew they had the helmet upstairs. Whatever Jem was thinking she could do, Skye figured she’d need it. Turning to the metal stairs, Skye ran. She knew exactly where the helmet was being kept and that there was currently no one guarding it. Throwing the door open, Skye grabbed the silver box and bolted back to the stairs. Coulson and May would see her, but it didn’t matter. Jem had thought of something and Skye was going to help. She knew she was no Fitz, but she would do exactly what Jem told her to and they would be fine. They could fix this. They always fixed things.

Opening the lab and setting the box on the lab, Skye held her finger up before Jem could tell her off for being there. “I know, but it’s a little late now so you may as well just take my help and tell by that I mean, hurry and tell me exactly what needs to be done.”

Jem gave her a small smile and looked back down. “Okay, I need you to get gloves. Then, I need a bottle of saline solution, six more glass dishes and the glass slides that are in the metal box just there. Oh, and the swabs. I have everything else here already.” Skye had begun grabbing things as soon as Jem had begun to speak. Sitting all the things she’d just listed on the bench, Skye could honestly say she watched in fear as Jem carefully removed the helmet from the insulated carrier. Handing her the swabs, Skye stood and did as she was told. Jem was one of the most brilliant people Skye had ever met (or even heard of). She could fix this. She _had_ to fix this.

They went through four variations before Jem was satisfied. The small vial going into Fitz’s device and Jem hesitating before turning to face the mice. “It’s going to work Jem.” Skye knew it would work. Not only because she needed it to, but because there was no one who she had more faith in than Jemma Simmons. They had grown closer over the time they’ve worked together, and whilst Skye tried to deny anything of the sort, she knew had feelings for Jem that went beyond those of friendship. But this wasn’t the time for that, right now they had to test the anti-serum. As the rat began to float, the electrostatic pulse or shock or whatever it was Jem had been talking about had clearly kicked in. It was slower than the last time and Skye just stared at the equipment, wishing she could do something. _Anything._ She felt completely and utterly helpless in a situation she needed to be able to fix.

Jem was talking to Coulson and Skye noticed that her vision had gotten far blurrier than it was when she first started staring. The warm trickle over her cheek and Skye wiped it away with her sleeve. “We’ll fix this Jem, we’ve got time. We can do it.”

A soft whisper behind her juxtaposed the painful force brought down on her neck. Hitting the floor, her neck, her face, her wrist all aching, Skye felt dazed before slipping painfully into unconsciousness.

The feeling of her head throbbing, Skye opened her eyes slowly. The light caused a small flinch, but it was no worse than the pain she was still feeling from when she fell. Using the bench to pull herself up, Skye noticed the rat was back to normal. No floating, no weird blue light. Just, standard laboratory rat. “Jem, it worked! The rat, look!” Skye looked around, but couldn’t see Jemma anywhere in the lab. Where the hell had she gone? It was only when something moved in the corner of her eye did Skye notice. The cargo hold was open, and there, on the edge of clouds, stood the woman she loved. “Jemma, NO!” Skye screamed, trying in vain to open the doors. The wind resistance was not making it easy and Jem was getting closer and closer to falling. “Stop, it worked!” Skye was calling out, unable to know if Jem could even hear her anymore. She could see Jem’s tears, the scientist’s matching her own. She watched as the biochemist raised her hand, reaching out to hacker, before the wind took her into the sky.

“JEMMA!” Skye called, knowing she could still reach her if she was quick enough. Grabbing the vial of the anti-serum from the machine whose name she couldn’t remember and putting into the device again. Running out into the cargo hold, Skye took the first parachute and was trying to get it fastened when Ward grabbed it off her. “It worked, it’ll knock her unconscious but it worked. Hurry! She jumped.” The last two words caught in her throat as she stood there, watching as Ward leaped off the edge and into the clouds.

The knot in her stomach had worked up into her chest. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe. Paralysed at the thought of being without Jemma, all Skye could do was wait.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After seeing Simmons getting so (adorably) worked up about the 'magic' last episode, Skye finds it amusing to tease Simmons that all of her science is magic. Could be in a relationship or just flirting.

The first time Skye mentioned magic, she had to stifle the laugh that rose at the looks from her team. It seemed they wanted to throw her out the window. Magic? Was she serious? But when AC agreed, Skye had the tiniest opportunity to look just a little smug. She knew enough about these ‘events’ to know that science may or may not actually be able to explain a lot of what had happened. But watching Jem huff every time Skye mentioned the ‘M’ word was simply too adorable.

Next time around, Skye knew Jem was only analysing the samples taken from the Centipede project. It was about the fifth time she’d run them and Skye knew this because the night after the fourth time, Jem had been mumbling about it in her sleep. Skye had woken thinking something was wrong with her girlfriend but by the time she was awake enough to comprehend what Jem was on about, Skye just giggled. Wrapping her arms back around the beautiful brunette, she smiled to herself as she fell back to sleep. So when she made her way into the lab that day, Fitz in the adjoining room, Skye couldn’t help herself. “How’s my favourite witch doing?”

Jem looked up, the almost-exasperated look she could never quite manage with Skye hinting on her eyebrows. “Skye, I am not a witch, I am a scientist. There are formulas and methods and a scientific process. There is reason and logical explanations. This is science, Skye, not magic.” The hacker was grinning, loving the way Jem got defensive of science. Her cheeks flushed ever so slightly and the way her eyes creased at the sides was possibly the reason Skye kept going with it. Though, having Jem compare herself to Hermione was enough to make Skye’s heart flutter in the best possible way.

It was only two days later when Skye noticed Jem working on the holographic station, with what looked like an atom? A particle? Sand? Something small and circular. Walking into the conference room, Skye wrapped her arms around her girlfriend (knowing well enough not to touch the holograms). “That has to be magic. There is no way you can possibly be working on something that I’m certain is meant to be smaller than should be possible. See, magic. My wonderful Hermione.” Skye kissed her cheek and Jem held her hands still at the hologram, a finger twitching just once.   
“Skye, sweetie. We’ve been over this.” Jem’s nose crinkled just the smallest amount and Skye struggled to keep a straight face. “It is not magic. This is science. I am using the holographic imaging machine to break down the particles that we found in the helmet to discover whether we can create anti-bodies in case anything like that happens again.”  
And just like that, the way Jem got only a little worked up was enough for Skye to gently kiss her on the cheek. “You are unfairly beautiful when you get worked up.” Kissing her quickly again, Skye disappeared, not wanting to distract Jem too much more. That was when Jemma realised Skye was only saying it to watch her reactions. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but knew that she didn’t mind the attention in the slightest.

The last time the hacktivist compared science to magic was bought on by nothing more than Skye wanting to see Jem looking so perfectly adorable. Jem wasn’t even working, or talking about work. But the amount of times Skye had bought it up now, she could just mention magic and Jem rolled her eyes. So when Skye whispered ‘magic’ into her girlfriend’s ear, Jem huffed and the hacker giggled. “Skye, I know you are just doing this for your own amusement but are you really telling me that there is nothing else you can do to entertain yourself that doesn’t involve comparing science to a mystical force which does not exist?”

“I could, but nothing else looks quite as gorgeous when I annoy it. Bonus question, even after the Asgardian stuff, you still don’t believe magic exists?” Hell, there were realms and universes, magic wasn’t a far leap from all of that for Skye.

“No. Magic is merely science that has not yet been conclusively studied yet.” Jem smiled, standing firm in her convictions and decided that even though Skye might accept magic as an explanation, she was not going to. And if Skye comparing magic and science got her worked up in the way that had Skye looking at her the way she did, then Jem could deal with it every so often.

“Magic, science, I don’t care. I believe in you and that’s all I need to know.” Jem could fix anything, solve any problem the world would ever face. Skye would probably believe in a myriad of things over her lifetime, but none would ever be as reliable as Jemma Simmons.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simmons won't wear dresses or high heels because she thinks shirts and jeans suit her better. While Skye doesn't think so, she convinced Simmons to wear a dress and tells her how beautiful she is.

Going through Jem’s wardrobe, Skye was beginning to grow more and more puzzled. “Jem, you don’t have any dresses. Like, none. At all.” Her eyebrows creased and what she thought could be a dress turned out to just be a very cute top. “Do you really not have any?”  
“I used to have one, but I never wore it so I gave it to a friend at university. It didn’t really suit me anyway.”   
Skye was desperately trying to figure out how that was the case, because every image she had of Jem in a dress was literally picture perfect.  
“Didn’t suit you? Jem, you would look incredible in even the most hideous outfit.” Skye thought aloud, knowing that Jem could pull of damn well everything and anything. Though, the thought of her in a dress was one the hacker couldn’t quite shake anymore.  
“Jeans suit me better. They are also far more practical in the lab. I have a skirt in there somewhere.” It was for official business and she really wasn’t a fan of wearing it to be perfectly honest. “I wear protective boots and Chucks and they work a lot better with jeans. Besides, you like my shirts and ties and I happen to know that very well.”   
She had a point there, Skye certainly did have a particular fondness for the shirt, tie and sweater combination. Jem had a way of making it look so incredible, but it dawned on her that it was simply because it was Jemma wearing it.  
“I think you would look stunning in a dress. Throw on a pair of heels and I’ll have to get Ward’s help to keep people away from you.” The hacktivist beamed, knowing all too well just how stunning Jem would look in a dress and heels. Sure, Skye was entirely biased, she knew just how beautiful Jem was even when she was waking up; her hair mussed on one side, the warmth still settled on her face.   
“Hmmm.” Jem hummed, her face giving away her uncertainty about it. Skye would never lie to her, but dresses had never been practical nor suited to her. 

\---

The thought stayed with her as the weeks went on. She admired Skye who wore them with such ease and so much confidence. Which was her through and through; everything Skye did she did with such poise. Knowing it would make a nice surprise, Jem decided to take Fitz to find something to wear when she took Skye out for her birthday the following week.

\---

Skye had been looking forward to her birthday ever since her girlfriend had told her that she had a surprise in store. The hacker had spent days trying to guess and unfortunately Fitz was being as tight lipped as Jem. So when the time came to finally leave for the restaurant (of which she wasn’t allowed to know the name of yet), Skye found herself lingering in the lounge room while Jem finished getting dressed. Checking on a few sites and making sure no one was causing any trouble, Skye found herself distracted by her Twitter feed and it was only at the sound of her name being called did she turn to look. Standing up and spinning to face the direction Jem’s voice was coming from, Skye dropped her phone. Her eyes wide, a gasp and smile sharing her lips. She dropped her chin, barely able to believe the sight before her. There, in a pale pink dress and silver high heels, stood Jemma. Moving around the sofa to walk towards her, Skye found herself unable to form a coherent thought. “Jem.” Skye paused, the fact that this was something her girlfriend had done just for her a little overwhelming. “You look beautiful.” Leaning in to kiss her sweetly, Skye was beginning to regain her composure. “You bought this just for me?”   
Jem smiled and nodded, looking down at the dress again. “Do you really think it suits me?”  
Skye nodded, wrapping her arms around Jemma.  
“Oh yes. Very, very much so. It may not be practical, but you look absolutely stunning. Fitz and Ward better not try anything on you.” She let out a small giggle, knowing the two would be even more floored than she was. “Okay, you are officially the most gorgeous woman in all known universes. I mean, I knew that before, but this is just the final piece of proof.” As the pink that crept over Jem’s cheeks became noticeable, Skye leaned in and kissed each of them.   
“Happy birthday Skye.” Jem said happily, thinking that it would be worth wearing more dresses if this was Skye's reaction.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I just really want a Skimmons fic where Skye protects Jemma in the field and got injured, and Jemma protects her right back with her doctor skills.

“Does anyone have any questions?”

 

Coulson had explained the mission and given details to each of them. Skye was to get into the mainframe and disarm the security surrounding the room the Opalite was being kept in. Then she and Simmons were to keep people distracted whilst Ward and Fitz retrieved the object. Why people insisted on keeping objects with foreign powers was beyond Skye. Why would you want something that constantly disrupted the energy forces in a certain radius? Baffling. But when said force was being implemented into a larger scale to affect an entire city and or country, well, then something had to be done to stop it. Ward had the brawn and Fitz had all the brain needed to know how to safely get the device out without it alerting anyone.

 

As the team made their way into the hotel, Skye walked with all her standard confidence, whilst Simmons not entirely sure about the heels she was in (although the collection of chemicals in her purse was ridiculously impressive). They slipped into a supply closet, knowing there were no cameras in there. Before they left, Skye had created a loop of video feed of an empty elevator and top floor which meant that once she was into the system, all she needed to do was replace the live feed with the pre-recorded footage, unlock the penthouse suite and hack the mainframe to reset the safe combinations. Sometimes she was really glad villains liked making things in small sizes that fit in hotel safes. Personal compounds were usually more difficult to infiltrate and had way more henchmen. Skye tucked her tablet back into her bag and slipped it over her arm to rest in the crook of her elbow.

 

When Simmons started to open the door with the first part of the mission on track, Skye stopped her, closing the door quickly. “That won’t work, we can’t just walk out looking perfectly normal. Then it just looks like we were up to something.”   
“Well, we were up to something so that wouldn’t be an entirely inaccurate assumption.” Skye rolled her eyes and shook her head at how proper Jemma was.

“That’s not the something we want them to think though. Come here.” Skye mussed Jem’s hair and swung her necklace the wrong way around. Pulling her own dress down on the left to reveal the top of her bra and messing her own hair up, Skye grinned. “There, now it looks like we were making out and not hacking security.” Opening the door again, Skye began to fix her dress and hair with a small smirk on her lips. They looked respectable again by the time they made it to the bar and spotted James Volski by the window. “Well, that was easy.” Skye remarked with all her normal sass as she looked over at the ever beautiful Simmons.

  
Taking her phone out, Skye text Ward, letting him know it was safe for him and Fitz to go up. Sitting at the bar, Skye ordered two drinks (made to look alcoholic but were nothing of the sort) and tipped the undercover bartender. “Skye.” Jem whispered, pretending to take a sip of her drink. “He’s looking at us. Why would he be looking at us?” She asked, still whispering with a small smile. Skye turned to look over her shoulder and winked at the man they were here to keep busy. Getting the bartender’s attention, Skye sent a drink over to Volski and leant in to Jem. “He’s looking because there are two hot women sitting alone at a bar. It’s instinct to look. Now, the boys shouldn’t take too long, hopefully, so we just need to keep him here, maybe flirt a little. Actually, I’ll flirt. Your last attempt to flirt under pressure with Sitwell didn’t really go, um, well. But then you and I leave together and maybe get to do what we made it look like we were doing in the cupboard.” Skye smiled playfully, the two of them still in the early stages of whatever it was they were doing. They watched as Volski held the drink up with a smile as he stood up. Skye smiled at him, thinking this was just too easy.

 

At which point, alarm bells should have sounded because she really should have known better.

 

Without the slightest warning, Volski whipped what looked like a small gun out of his pocket and shot straight at Skye’s neck. “Skye!” Jemma shouted as she grabbed at the hacker’s waist to push her into the bar. She had noticed his hand movement and the look in his eye was not one of ‘thanks for the drink’. She pushed Skye aside, meaning whatever it was which hit her did so in the shoulder instead of her neck or spinal cord. Which Jem knew was good, no matter which way you looked at it. Not the getting shot, that was terrible of course. But a shoulder was more easily repaired than a neck. Jem barely had time to look up before Volski began to briskly walk out of the bar and straight to the elevator. Skye looked smug through her pain as the doors opened, knowing it wouldn’t go to the floor he wanted. In fact, it wouldn’t go above the fourth floor.

“Ouch.” Skye called out angrily, her annoyance mixing with the pain shooting from her shoulder. There was no way that was a bullet, but what the hell!? Looking over at her shoulder, her purple dress now tainted crimson.

“Skye.” Jem’s face had dropped as she extended her hand slowly to rest on the top of the hacktivist’s arm. As she turned her head, Skye knew to turn so that Jem could look at the wound properly. Tenderly removing the dress from over the laceration, Jem cringed as Skye held in the words she knew were in no way appropriate to scream in a public place.

“Okay, we can fix this. Good news, it isn’t deep and I have everything we need in my bag. Bad news is that there appears to be something lodged in there which begs the question of what exactly he shot you with. I can take it out, and will, but it will hurt. Come on.” Skye looked at her blood stained shoulder sullenly, not impressed. “Ward.” She hissed suddenly, remembering their two men upstairs. “Volski shot me, he’s on his way up. The elevator will stall him but not for too much longer. Get out of there.” That was the best she could manage, before the pain had her biting her lip to stop her screaming out. Looking down, she realised Jem had grabbed both their bags as she’d been warning Ward.

 

Volski rode the elevator to the fourth floor, then down to the second before he found himself back on the fourth. Getting out in a fit of rage, he stormed toward the stairwell. Throwing the door open, Volski began to run up the stairs, taking them two at time. The cement thudding with every step, the dark haired man began to slow after three flights. With three more to go, he knew he was getting close. He could make it. He would not survive if he didn’t.

  
Inside the extravagant room, Fitz was ensuring the electro-magnetic containment container was programmed correctly as Ward deactivated the security surrounding the safe. Upon hearing Skye’s cry, Ward cursed under his breath. At her warning, he worked faster. Whilst Skye would have done  _something_  to the electronics in the hotel, he didn’t know what. “Fitz, is the box ready?” He glanced over, watching as the engineer was still tinkering with it.

“It’s ready. Hurry up, get the device.” Ward glared at him slightly, but pressed in the default code regardless. “Alright, hand me the box.”  
“Electro-magnetic containment container.” Fitz corrected automatically. Ward merely raised his eyebrows and held out his hand. When Fitz passed it over, Ward opened it and held it close to the safe. Taking a breath, he opened the safe and in one swift movement, swept the device into Fitz’s container thing. Closing the box and locking it, Ward placed it into the backpack. Setting the safe back to how it was, Ward didn’t notice Fitz move to the door.

Fitz, upon hearing something coming from the hall, tiptoed over to the entrance way. Putting his ear to the door to decipher how close this person was, his eyes focused on the floor, he could see the shadows coming from the opposite side. Two lines creeping underneath, it was too late for him to call out to Ward. Picking up the (surprisingly empty) ceramic vase off the beautiful table by the door, Fitz waited as he listened to the security card authenticate and verify the digital code unique to this room. In what felt like slow motion, the door handle lowered. Volski, obviously trying to surprise anyone who was inside, opened the door gradually and only began to enter when he could fit entirely through the now open space. Fitz waited, holding his breath as to not give himself away (he was not an agent and was not exactly good at that whole silent breathing business). As soon as Volski had closed the door behind him, Fitz smashed the vase over the back of the man’s head.

“Ward. I hope you have it because we need to go.” He was talking quickly, as he did when he was nervous. Watching as Ward walked over with a small smirk on his lips, Fitz huffed. “Come on, we need to get out of here before he wakes up and knows who it was that stole the Opalite.” The agent simply nodded, stepping over the lump of unconscious body in the doorway

 

“Come on Skye, I can’t do this here. In the van, go. Quickly now.” Jem was walking quickly which made the hacker question since when she had learnt to do that. Jemma held the door open and Skye quickly climbed in, the metal cool against her knees. Jem turned the lights on and placed Skye’s bag down out of the way. Settling herself behind Skye, she took a pair of gloves and again had to peel the once soft fabric from the hacker’s shoulder. “Okay, I don’t want to cut this beautiful dress and blood stains can be easily removed if you know which chemicals to use, which I do of course which only leaves the option of you, erm, having to take off the dress.” Skye turned and raised an eyebrow, a playful smile on her lips.   
"Really now?" She asked with a cheeky tone that was ruined by a wince of pain. "Okay, but please help me? I can't lift this arm to-" Skye hadn't even finished talked as Jem managed to unzip the dress and extract her immovable arm from the sleeve. Skye managed the rest until it came to actually pulling it off. “Would you mind?” Jem smiled and very gently took the dress off over the hacker’s head.

At which moment of course, the front and rear doors opened simultaneously and Ward and Fitz stood there gaping. Ward moved on, getting in and starting the van. Skye frowned, not understanding the problem. Simmons reached out and grabbed Fitz, who closed the door behind him. “Ward, hurry.” She said, not particularly wanting to be chased by henchmen.

Handing the dress back to hacktivist, Jem nodded and Skye draped it over herself like a blanket. “Okay, this is going to hurt. Sorry.” Jemma wasn’t entirely used to working on people who were still breathing. It was becoming more common though and the last few times had gone particularly well. Taking a few small bottles from her bag and opening a small sealed pouch, she removed the sterile cloth. Wiping the blood off the wound was simple enough and once the abrasion was sterilised, Jem opened the draw of the side tub and took out her pair of microscopic glasses, tweezers and then handed a glass jar to Fitz to hold. Skye bit her lip to stop from making any noise and kept her eyes closed. Jem would fix it; Jem could fix anything.

Feeling the cool of the metal tweezers in her back was rather odd for the short time they were there. A small ‘uh-huh!’ from behind her made Skye smile a little as she knew Jem had found whatever the heck it was that bastard had shot her with. A small thunk echoed as the object was placed into the jar and Skye could see Fitz in her peripheral moving around, no doubt very precisely.

“Skye, I’m not going to stitch you up in a very fast moving van, not when we will be back at the Bus shortly. For now, I’m just going to patch it and I will fix it properly when we aren’t contending with sharp corners and pot holes.” Skye knew that was definitely for the best. Feeling the soft wadding over her shoulder and the tape holding it securely in place, Skye relaxed a little. That weird object was out and Jem would make sure there was no long term damage. The amount of faith she had in Jemma Simmons had once seemed crazy. But time and time again, Jem proved she could do anything, fix anything. It was one of the reasons Skye was falling more and more in love with her. Within a few seconds there was a jacket placed over her and Jem was sitting by her (good) side. “Thank you.” Skye whispered, leaning over to kiss the cheek of her biochemist. “Next time I’ll protect you and hopefully neither of us get shot.” Then again, Skye would take a bullet for Jemma any day. That’s just how things were.

 

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: skimmons aren't dating yet, but skye likes being close to simmons. Standing, walking, hands brushing... skye makes excuses to be close to simmons on missions, when lounging around bored, and even when working. simmons thinks its cute (and knowing signs of attraction) gives skye a kiss to let her know the feelings are returned

It started out innocently enough. After the Chitauri virus, Skye somehow decided that despite Fitz and Ward, she was going to be the one to protect Jemma; the boys could play back-up. She was going to make sure that nothing hurt her. They nearly lost her once, Skye vowed never to go through that again. So, when the team were all out spying on the latest branch of creepy scientists tinkering with the Centipede project, the hacker made sure she was always between Simmons and danger. Upgrading all their firewalls and transmissions, FitzSimmons were completely hidden. A cloak of invisibility kept their work and whereabouts secret from any and all prying eyes. And when it came to actual danger, Skye made sure she was literally between Jemma and the threat. Standing in from of Jem, her back pressed against the scientist, the hacktivist was not going to let anything happen to her. Which was, of course, about the time she realised she was actually screwed. Feelings. As in, ones she couldn't ignore. Damn it, she cursed herself mentally. But at least by protecting Simmons, they were pretty much always together.

The realisation that she was constantly making herself close to Jem didn’t come for a few weeks after that. Fitz was actually the one who made Skye click. She knew how she felt about the scientist, but wasn’t sure ‘they’ were even a possibility. Was that an option? Skye pushed it out of her mind, choosing to live in the pleasant reality whereby she got to be near Jem a lot of the time. More and more, Skye found herself working in the lab without any real reason. Setting up with her laptop (sometimes tablet), Skye worked opposite Jem on the bench, the sharing small smiles every time they looked up. Which, she noted, was rather frequently. Whenever they moved, they did so in tandem. They avoided collisions like it was choreography and touched gently as though they could shatter the illusion with a single knock. They laughed with pink cheeks and warm hands that brushed together whenever they could. Skye found her mind wandering, wondering what it would be like to merely reach up, to run her fingers over the flush of Jem’s cheek. Resigned to the fact it simply wasn’t going to happen, Skye just kept close, still enjoying that she could still make the other woman smile.

A boring afternoon’s work complete, the two of them made their way upstairs to the lounge. Their fingers brushing together, shoulders bumping lightly and playful smiles on their lips. By the time they made it to the top of the staircase, the two of them were more than just shoulder to shoulder, their arms flush against each other. Collapsing down into the sofa, knees pressed together as they continued to laugh at a joke that had long passed. Jem untied her Chucks and toed them off before tucking her feet up under herself as Skye admired just how beautiful the other woman really was. The way her hair fell in such perfect curls, how the light reflected the mixed tones in her hazel eyes just so. “Skye?” Jem asked, her tone soft but curious. The hacker raised her eyebrows, wondering what was to follow. “All of this,” she said as she gestured to the lack of space between them, “I know why, is what I mean.”

Skye reflexively pulled back, not wanting to face the rejection she was sure was coming. It wasn’t as though Jem would be harsh but she knew it would hurt regardless. Her voice was soft, and try as she might, just couldn’t make eye contact. “I’m sorry, I’ll leave if -”

“Please don’t.”

When Jem cut her off before she could finish, Skye merely found herself marvelling at the biochemists response. She didn’t even have time to formulate anything as a reply before Jemma’s lips were on hers. They were softer than she’d imagined, her chapstick more vanilla than the raspberry she’d pictured. This made so much more sense, because of course Jemma’s lips were naturally that gorgeous colour. That was the last coherent thought Skye could manage before the reality of the situation caught up to her. Jemma, perfect Jemma, was actually kissing her. Of course she had known why they’d been so close, picking up on it better than Skye could have hoped. Not that she wouldn’t have known, Skye just wasn’t sure it meant as much to the scientist as it did to her. But here they were, Skye still barely able to believe it.

“Oh, it’s about time.” Fitz’s voice broke their moment as they both looked up, rather surprised that anyone was around. “You two have been sickly for weeks. With your sappy smiles and your holding hands and that weird thing you do where you just stand so ridiculously close. It’s impractical to stand that close to another person and you both know that.” His tone was stern but the smile that hinted on the corners of his lips was enough for the two of them to know he wasn't actually annoyed.

The hacktivist shrugged, realising now why Jemma had never complained nor moved away.

“And Jemma, now that she knows, can we please finish the analysis on the portal key that we were so close to finishing before you fell for the pretty hacker here.”

Jemma blushed and Skye beamed at the engineer.

“Aw, Fitz you think I’m pretty?” She asked as he blushed furiously, clearly not meaning to have said that in Skye’s presence.

“Um, yes. But, I am warning you now. Hurt my Jemma and not even she will be able to save you.” Fitz stared pointedly at her before he left and the brunette’s nodded along. Jem thought it was sweet, Fitz being all protective. Skye had to wait until he left before she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

“Not that I would ever hurt you, but that threat would have been a lot scarier from AC. No offence to Fitz.”

“Then know that if you ever hurt her, even she won’t be able to save you.”

Skye jumped, having not known Coulson was even in the room.

“Noted sir.” Coulson nodded at them and Skye could have sworn she saw a smile before he turned around to leave.

Leaning in to kiss her again, Skye really couldn’t believe their proximity had actually seen Jemma fall for her. Maybe the feelings would be easier to deal with when they were shared with the person they were for. Settling against Jem, Skye loved everything about it.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma invents a cloning machine and uses Skye as a test subject.

After months of working tirelessly, it was finally done. The machine they had designed from scratch was finally ready. A cloning machine that could reproduce anything, as was its sole purpose. Originally designed to allow them to mass produce alien cells, it quickly grew until they found themselves with a very large cloning machine. “Fitz! It’s ready. Like, actually, properly ready. Can you believe it?” Simmons was beaming, their baby finally ready to use. After weeks of testing, many mice having become so many more, it was complete. The cells had proven effective in creating anti-serums and vaccines. But now, Simmons was beginning to feel a little more adventurous. Fitz appeared, a mischievous smile in place.   
“I think we need a grand first appearance. I mean, the mice are cool but I think we need something a little bigger.”   
  
Jemma’s eyes sparkled as she pulled out her phone.

_**[text: Skye]**  Skye, would you mind being a part of an experiment for me? -J_

_**[text: Jemma]**  Sure. Wait. Is it safe? -S_

_**[text: Skye]**  Of course, you know I’d never put you in danger. -J_

_**[text: Jemma]**  Very true. I’ll be down in a minute. -S_

_**[text: Coulson; May; Ward]**  Demonstration in lab commencing in five minutes. Be prompt please. –FS_

Skye headed down the metal stairs, not entirely sure what was awaiting her. Jem and Fitz had been working on so many projects, it was hard to keep up. Had they finished the new armour? Skye grinned to herself, hoping that she was going to be able to test the new suits; because that would be so cool.

However, the surprise on her face when she saw the tall, dalek-resembling device was enough to show her girlfriend that she had thought she was here for an entirely different purpose. And the machine was enough to tell her she wasn’t here to test the new armour.

“What exactly did I agree to?” Eyeing off the machine, Skye was suddenly a little wary. Not that Jem would let her get hurt, but what in the hell? “Jem?” Which was apparently all the scientist needed to start rambling.

“Fitz and I finally finished the cloning machine we’ve been working on for the majority of the year and we wanted for the first public reveal, well, to public as in to the team, we wanted it to be something spectacular. So I was rather hoping we could make another, well, another you.” The puppy dog eyes were an evil play – Jem knew Skye couldn’t resist.

Damn it. Sighing, Skye nodded. “Sure, but what are we going to do with a second me? Because I’m pretty sure AC won’t be all that thrilled. I think one of me is enough for him, even if I am completely awesome. Obviously.” She was grinning cheekily as the other three team members appeared by the glass doors.

“Demonstration?” Ward asked, May gazing suspiciously at the device.

“Yes, demonstration. You know we’ve been working on this for a long time and it is finally perfect. And to prove it, we’re going to clone Skye.”

FitzSimmons beamed as Coulson, May and Ward’s jaws simultaneously dropped. Skye was almost sure she heard them hit the floor.

“This is a bad idea.”

Skye was internally agreeing with May, but she trusted Jem and Fitz with her life so she wasn’t scared, merely a touch apprehensive.

“Shall we?” Jemma asked as she waved Skye over to where they were standing by the machine. Obliging, the hacker moved over to the scientists.

“So, what exactly are we going to do with the extra me? And how long will she be here?” She asked, suddenly wondering honestly what the plan was for the second Skye. Jem beamed and Skye wanted to laugh at the adorable expression on her girlfriend’s face. Fitz spoke up,

“We have built in an option so that the cells can disintegrate after a specified time frame. Which in this case we shall set for an hour, because we want to study her, check her vitals, to see how well it worked.”  Fitz was grinning and changing what appeared to be all the settings on the touchpad.

“One Skye, for one hour. If you would be so kind?” He asked the hacktivist, gesturing to the open space at the front of the machine. Skye shrugged and walked in. Whatever it was going to do, she was quite certain that Fitz, and especially not Jemma, would let her get hurt.

Fitz fiddled with the buttons a few more times, presumably to double check all the timing structures so that the cells would in face disintegrate on time and they wouldn’t have an extra Skye running around for a week. It was only after he set the machine to start, did his face drop. “Jemma.” His eyes glancing sideways, the panic starting to spread. “Remember when we said the touchpad was too sensitive and that we were going to fix that but it was never really an issue so we didn’t? It might have just become a problem.” His strained whisper enough for Simmons’ eyes to widen significantly.

“How long is it going to last for?” She asked quietly and Fitz shook his head.

“Just the hour. Only, there are going to be eleven of her. Not one.”  

“Fitzsimmons.” Coulson called over, he, May and Ward waiting patiently to hear the outcome of the harsh whispers.

“Slight hiccough sir. There will be a Skye clone, only, instead of one, there will be eleven.” She smiled timidly, her intonation rising with her nervousness. “They will only last an hour, but there will be an influx of Skye’s in about thirty seconds.”

Ward rolled his eyes but laughed, causing May and Coulson to look at him as though he had three heads.

“Come on, eleven Skye’s? Do you have any idea how hilarious this will be?”

FitzSimmons smiled, pleased that Ward was adapting particularly well to the news. When the machine buzzed behind them, the scientists spun quickly to open the doors. Skye walked out grinning, followed by another, and another and then nine more. Jemma really wasn’t lying, there was indeed an influx of Skye’s.

As Skye, the original, turned around and saw all the others, her eyebrows crawled up. “Here I was thinking one of me was enough and you guys go and make an army of Skye’s. This is so cool.” Noticing May’s blank stare and Coulson’s exasperated expression, she crossed her arms and stood beside Jemma. “I mean, if it weren’t so weird.” Inside she was ridiculously excited because this was possibly the coolest, weirdest thing to ever happen to her.

Fitz took one aside and scanned her with a device Skye had never seen before. Tapping away at the screen, Skye left him to it and walked over to see all the other versions of her. Thankfully, they knew not to touch anything and were mostly just huddling off to the side of the lab. “So this is what my hair looks like from behind. Nice.” Jemma giggled and Coulson and May headed upstairs. Ward hung around, covering his mouth with his hand.

One of the clones moved closer to Jem, taking her hand and twining their fingers together. Skye was really unsure of what to say to that because they were really adorable but it also wasn’t really her.

“All the vitals are fine. Her heartbeat, blood pressure, neural responses. All the same as Skye’s. This is incredible.” Fitz kept talking as he made his way over to the group of clones, scanning them all in much the same way whilst having conversations with the clones, whom, of course, all made the same facial expressions he was well accustomed to.

Jem, Skye and Ward all headed over to the herd of clones, chatting about just how weird this really was. One would have been strange enough. But to have twelve Skye’s in one place? Completely bizarre. Jem didn’t seem to mind (twelve Skye’s? She could not see a problem), and Ward, well, no one really knew what he was thinking. Not that they ever did.

The hour passed relatively quickly, and all at once, eleven Skye’s vanished into thin air. Which made the one left standing question exactly when this type of strange had become a part of her ‘normal’. Not that she would change it; this little oddball family was everything she had ever wanted. And besides, who else got to see eleven of themselves courtesy of their girlfriend's cloning machine? Skye grinned and wrapped her arms around Jem, wondering just what was in store for next time.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Could you do one where Skimmons are dared to "do stuff" (take it as you wish) in all rooms on the Bus - even bedrooms, basement thing, cockpit, etc. whether they get caught is up to you.

“Skye, what kind of a dare is that?” Jemma laughed, an eyebrow raised humorously at her girlfriend before she shrugged. “Though I suppose a dare is a dare.” She grabbed Skye’s jumper (which had at one point been hers) and pulled her in close to kiss her. Their lips met and Skye smiled into the touch. By the time they breathlessly broke apart, Jem was smiling as brightly as the hacker.  

“You were the one who wanted to play truth or dare. Thought I’d start off simple. And also I hadn’t kissed you in about ten minutes, so there’s that.” She couldn’t help but admire the expression on Jem’s face. Since they’d gotten together, Skye had become an almost Fitz level expert in reading Jem. Not quite, but she was getting there. Currently she was blushing a barely noticeable amount, her eyes giving a faux-disapproving look but her smile showed she was anything but disappointed. The biochemist was far too adorable and Skye found herself distracted by her girlfriend for a few moments.

“Alright, truth or dare?” Jem asked, actually unsure where this was going to end up.

“Dare.” The hacker smirked playfully, even though she was now at the mercy of not-as-innocent-as-she-had-once-presumed Simmons.

“Okay. I dare you to make out with me,” Jemma paused, clearly thinking and Skye was suddenly completely intrigued by those thoughts, “in the cockpit.”

The hacktivists brown eyes widened and her playful smile grew.

“You know May might actually kill me?” Not that she really cared; some rules were made to be broken and this was definitely one of them. And one she was going to enjoy. “You’re on.” Skye stood up off the bed and opened the sliding door. Walking out of Jem’s bunk and into the lounge and looked around, spotting Fitz by one of the windows.  “Fitz, have you seen May?” She asked, hoping the answer wasn’t going to be ‘yeah, in the cockpit’.

“She and Ward are downstairs training. It was rather distracting which is why I’m up here reading while they are down there grunting as they fall. And by they, I mean Ward. May hadn’t hit the floor once in nearly twenty minutes.”

Skye laughed, glad she wasn’t Ward right now. Training with May was awesome, but damn it hurt. “Great. Coming?” She turned to ask her biochemist, the daring glint in her eye all too pronounced.

As Jemma opened the door to the cockpit, she pushed Skye inside and back against the chair. “Sometimes I wonder whatever happened to your reluctance to be a part of my bad girl shenanigans. Then I remember that it was me and that I don’t actually care all that much.” Skye grinned, pulling Jem in closer to her. “Now here you are, in May’s cockpit about-”

The scientist cut her off by pressing her lips firmly against her girlfriend’s. Skye kissed her back passionately, her hands finding the gap between Jemma’s jeans and shirt. Running her thumbs over the warm skin on her hips, Jem leaned into the touch and Skye ran one hand around to rest on her lower back, pulling her in even closer. Ghosting fingertips up and down her biochemist’s spine, Skye loved the feeling of her girlfriend shivering beneath her touch. The goosebumps that never failed to appear now covering at least her torso, Jemma moaned into the kiss. The sound doing nothing to halt Skye’s desire to undress her right here. When Jem’s hands crept under her own shirt, the hacker mirrored the noises her girlfriend had made not seconds earlier. Which was, of course, when the door opened.

 Thankfully, it wasn’t May (lest they be dead already), but Coulson did not seem, actually, he was completely expressionless. Skye wondered how he had such a good poker face, but knew well enough to know this was not the time to ask.

“This seems like a wonderful place to be doing that ladies, don’t you think?” He asked, the sarcasm emanating from him like, whatever it was that was sassier than Coulson. If that was even possible. Jemma blushed as they both dropped their arms; Skye trying her hardest not to laugh. She took Jem’s hand and they shuffled past their fearless and scarily expressionless leader. Once out of the cockpit, they practically ran back to the bunk, where Skye let out the laugh she managed to hold in. “I know, I know, it wasn’t funny. But you know I can’t help laughing when I’m not meant to.” She was still giggling as Jem began to as well.

“No, definitely not meant to.” The two of them collapsed back onto the bed, faces red from laughing too hard, tears beginning to form and their breathing much more difficult.

“Truth or dare?” Skye asked cheekily, the spark in her eye that knew which answer was coming.

“Dare. Obviously.” Thinking back, Skye tried to remember the last time either of them had picked truth. They used to pick truth occasionally, before this game had started. Now they both seemed incapable of choosing the other option.

Mentally running through the rooms they had left to choose from, the hacker realised they were running low. Bedrooms were very obviously out, as was the cockpit, the lounge, the bar, the lab, the storage closet and cargo hold. Though now that she thought about it, there was the cargo in the cargo hold. A mischievous grin on her face, Skye reached out to tangle their fingers together. “The Lexus.”  No way they were even touching Lola, let alone touching each other in, on or around Lola. She winked at Jem as she stood up. Jemma smiled, the one that still made her look entirely innocent. But knowing what she was thinking, Skye had to question how that was even possible.

Fitz was busy in the side lab, not noticing as the two girls snuck down the stairs and into the car. Climbing into the backseat, Skye pulled Jem down on top of her, hooking a leg around her girlfriend’s, their bodies pressed flush together. The biochemist’s lips had barely met hers when there was a tapping on the window. Propping herself up on her elbow, other hand still resting on Jem’s lower back, Skye sighed as she saw Ward standing with his arms folded, staring straight at the back of the Bus.

“Seriously?” Skye called and the agent nodded, still not looking in.

“Coulson wants to see FitzSimmons, and I already found Fitz. Let’s go Simmons.”

As he headed back upstairs, Skye pouted as Jem sat up, moving off her.

“Oh, don’t pout Skye, that’s not fair.”

“Like when you give me those puppy dog eyes? As though  _that’s_  fair.”

“Come on, Coulson wouldn’t want me for no reason. He probably got approval for the tests we wanted to run on the Centipede serum.” Jem was beginning to sound excited and Skye couldn’t help but smile at the sight. “Continue this when I’m done?” That playful look still visible in the scientists eyes.

“Of course.” Skye kissed her quickly before they got out of the car and headed upstairs.

The game continued for a about a week, which was as long as it took for them to run out of rooms. Some were more,  _successful_ , than others (namely, the storage closet, which may or may not have been revisited). Getting re-dressed, picking up all manner of clothing from the shelves, floor and drawers, the two of them flushed and giggling as they found Skye’s bra dangling from the highest shelf, Jem was the one who spoke coherently first. “Truth or dare?” She asked, both of them still almost completely naked.

“Truth.” Skye hadn’t even managed to do her bra up yet, and knew that Fitz would come looking for his best friend soon.

“I love you.” Jem beamed as she handed Skye her shirt back.

“I love you too.” She didn’t even care that she was the one who was meant to answer. Hearing Jem say that was everything she wanted. It was funny what a simple game could lead to.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: SHIELD christmas party, Fitz plans to get Jemma together with her crush Skye by luring them under mistletoe Jemma and Skye end up kissing under the mistletoe getting together.

“Fitz? What are you doing?” Simmons asked curiously, wondering just what the heck the engineer was doing on a ladder in the middle of the lounge. Raising an eyebrow at him as he looked down, she knew this wasn’t going to end well.

“I was hanging decorations for tonight. Just because there are only a handful of us doesn’t mean that we can’t have a proper Christmas party.”

“Fitz, mistletoe is not a decoration. Paper chains or tinsel or lights are decorations. That,” she said as she pointed to the small green leaves, “-that tells me that you want something to happen that would probably be very awkward for all of us.”

“I have lights and tinsel too.” He defended, pointing over at the box sitting on the chair with an array of colourful things poking out. “But this is for a purpose.”

Simmons tried to suppress a giggle at the thought of the many combinations of people who could be caught under it. It was only then that she realised the thought of Skye kissing her had bought a blush to her cheeks. She quickly thought of Coulson and Ward and giggled, and the image of Fitz and May made her pull a concerned face as she contemplated just how odd that would be. Almost as weird as May and Skye. Or herself and Coulson. Or Fitz and Ward. Running through every possibility, Jemma shook her head with a chuckle as she headed to the bathroom for a shower.

The lounge looked rather spectacular for a party for six people, and Jemma smiled as all the fairy lights twinkled along the walls over the windows. There was a holographic tree that she had programmed earlier and tinsel hung around the place. And when she looked up, there was the mistletoe Fitz had hung earlier. She wondered who would be the first to step underneath it. Figuring it wouldn’t be May because she was unnervingly aware of her surroundings, she wondered if it would be Ward or even Fitz. They all arrived within a couple of minutes of each other and stacked their gifts in a pile next to the bar. Jem had enjoyed going out shopping with Fitz. The bonus of such a small team was that a Secret Santa was rather unnecessary. Ward had suggested it, though Jemma and Skye believed that was simply because he didn’t want to go shopping. Skye had done most of hers online, which completely surprised everyone, obviously. May had disappeared alone, as had Coulson. Skye told Ward to do his online so that he would avoid the hordes of people in store, which seemed to please him. And now, there was a large pile of gifts that made them all smile. Jemma was still grinning at their presents and no doubt looking entirely cheesy, which meant of course, that that was the moment Skye chose to walk in.

Her pale blue dress fitting perfectly in all the right places and her silver heels making her legs seemingly endless. Her eyes inadvertently widening, she turned around to stop herself staring at the gorgeous hacker. Jem smiled and shook her head very slightly at herself. Before she turned back, there were arms wrapped around her waist and a chin resting on her shoulder. She would know the perfume anywhere, and Skye had a distinctive hug. She would always hold Jem that little bit tighter than anyone else, knowing just how they fit together.

“Merry Christmas Skye.” Jem said with a smile as they unfolded themselves from each other. “And be careful.” She pointed up to the ceiling where she had caught Fitz standing on a step ladder not hours earlier. “Fitz put it up. Not quite sure what he was hoping for.”

Skye smirked as she caught the engineer out of the corner of her eye. He was waving her toward the mistletoe, almost subtly, but rather painfully. Skye turned and walked over to stand beneath the clichéd plant and pointed up.

“You mean he put this up? For no apparent reason?” She somehow managed to keep a straight face as Fitz stood just behind Jemma, nudging her towards Skye.

What he didn’t account for was the imbalance that came with being pushed when one was wearing high heels, rather than Chucks. Which meant that a gentle push that would normally have seen Jemma fall into Skye, instead meant that Jem fell to the floor. It all happened so quickly, Fitz clamped his hands over his mouth and Skye tried unsuccessfully to catch the biochemist. May, Ward and Coulson all turned at the sound and wore worried expressions.

“Jem, Jem, you alright?” Skye pulled Jem onto her lap, noticing the graze on her forehead as she gently pushed her hair aside.

“Ouch.” Jem winced as Skye moved her hair, the red mark thankfully only small.

“Jemma, I am so, so sorry!” Fitz said and she glared at him.

“Why would you push me?”

“I, um, I.” Skye shook her head and waved Fitz off, a cue he thankfully took.

“Alright, let me fix this.” Skye said, leaning over to press a soft kiss to Jem’s injury. The scientist smiled, knowing what Skye was going to do, but held a finger up to stop her.

“No. Not there.” Jem pointed to her lips, a small smile hinting at the corners. Skye grinned before she leaned down again, kissing Jem softly. The mistletoe hung almost above them and Fitz, whilst still feeling guilty, was smiling as he watched his best friend get the girl. He’d tried, for so long, but to no avail. Until now. Jem had been entirely smitten with Skye for weeks, possibly months. And as cliché as mistletoe may have been, it worked.

“Alright, I will kiss you for the rest of the night if you come with me now so I can put some ice on that.”

“Only the rest of the night?”

Skye laughed as she helped them both stand up. Jemma slipped off her heels off and Skye kicked hers next to Jem’s now abandoned ones.

“We’ll be back soon. Don’t do presents without us. Fitz, be careful. She might just push you under the mistletoe when we get back.” Skye winked at him and enjoyed the blush that crept over his cheeks as he looked at May, Coulson and Ward, who were now all looking at him with varying expressions of challenge.

Skye smiled, an arm around Jem’s waist holding her close.

“So, I think that was what Fitz was setting up. You could have just kissed me, you know?”

Jem smiled and rested her head on Skye’s shoulder.

“I did not know that. I do now though and I think I will just take you up on that.”

“Oh, please do. Frequently would be nice.” Skye beamed at just how wonderful Christmas was turning out to be.


End file.
